Free publisher replacement for churches, schools and clubs
The free publisher alternative with a Document Foundation announcement behind it is LibreOffice. It costs nothing, runs on Windows, Mac and Linux, and its Draw program is the part that opens Publisher files. Use Writer to make new newsletters and Draw to open old .pub files. Scribus is a second free option, and people who already pay for Microsoft 365 can use Word.
Free publisher replacement options compared
These are the free options we could check on the makers’ own pages. Each row says what that page says about cost and systems, and whether the program can open an old .pub file. “Opens .pub” is the part that decides whether it replaces Publisher for the files you already have, not just for new ones.
| Option | Cost and systems, per its own site | Opens old .pub files? |
|---|---|---|
| LibreOffice | Free and open source (home page), with downloads for Windows, macOS and Linux (download page). Writer is the word processor and Draw is the drawing program (LibreOffice overview). | Yes, in Draw. The Document Foundation calls Draw “the quickest way to open, view, edit and manage Publisher documents” (its announcement). The Getting Started Guide lists Publisher 98-2010 files (chapter 10). |
| Scribus | Calls itself Free (home page). A page layout program for Linux, Windows, macOS and other systems (about page). | Possibly. The Document Foundation’s 14 October 2026 post says the libmspub library “is used by LibreOffice and Scribus to import Publisher files” (its announcement). Scribus’s own wiki page on .pub import dates from 2014: it says the 1.5.0svn development version includes an import filter and the stable 1.4.x series did not (wiki page). We did not find current Scribus documentation that promises it, and we have not tested it. |
| Word and PowerPoint, if you already have Microsoft 365 | Not free on their own. Microsoft’s article lists them among its Microsoft 365 apps, and it names Word for newsletters and says many common Publisher jobs, including templates and programs, are already possible in Word and PowerPoint (Microsoft’s support article). | Microsoft’s own route is to save a file as a PDF from Publisher first, then open the PDF in Word. That needs Publisher itself, and Microsoft warns the layout may change. |
| Canva Free | The Free plan is US$0 for one person; Canva says not-for-profits and K-12 schools can get most premium features free (pricing page). | Not directly. Canva’s upload-formats help does not list .pub (Canva help), so a PDF is the simplest documented route. Canva’s two help pages differ on the result: the upload page says an imported PDF’s pages become images, and the PDF page says text and images may be separated into editable elements (Canva PDF help). |
A fuller comparison, including paid programs, is on the Publisher alternatives page.
Which free option fits a church, school or club
- You make a newsletter or bulletin every week or month: use LibreOffice Writer. It is a word processor, so a volunteer who has used Word can pick it up, and the steps below show one page start to finish.
- You have a folder of old .pub files you still need to read or reprint: open them in our free browser viewer (nothing to install, the files are never uploaded; tested on our own sample files), or in LibreOffice Draw. In our LibreOffice test with one file (LibreOffice 26.2.6.3, on Linux), it opened an old file and saved it as a PDF, a Draw file and a picture. The Russian text in that file came out garbled, and saving as Word failed. One file is not a study: older files with non-Latin text can come out garbled, and ours did. The LibreOffice you download is newer than the one we tested, so check each of your files. Keep the original .pub next to any copy.
- You want print-shop control over layout: Scribus is built for page layout. It has more to learn than Writer, so it suits one person who will own the job.
- Your organization already pays for Microsoft 365: use Word, as Microsoft suggests for newsletters. Nothing about that is free, and Publisher is leaving Microsoft 365, as our end of life timeline shows.
Make a one-page newsletter with LibreOffice Writer
Have your text typed or ready to paste, and one photo saved as a file. Install LibreOffice from its download page first if you have not.
These steps follow LibreOffice’s current help pages, linked in each step. We have not timed them with a group of volunteers, and menu names in older versions can differ a little.
- Start Writer so you have a blank text document. Choose Format > Page Style. The help says this dialog sets the page margins, headers and footers and the background. Narrower margins leave more room on a one-page newsletter (Page Style help).
- Type the name of your newsletter and the date on the first lines. Under them, type or paste your news items, one short paragraph each, with a headline line above every item.
- Select the newsletter name, then choose Format > Character. This changes the font and formatting of the selected text, so pick a large size and a font you can read from across a room (Character help). Do the same for the item headlines.
- Put a line under the name. Click in the date line and choose Format > Paragraph > Borders. In the User-defined area, click the bottom edge in the preview to select it, set a line width in the Line area, and click OK (Paragraph borders help).
- Put the news items in two columns. Select all the text under the name and the date, then choose Insert > Section. Type a name for the section, open the Columns tab, enter 2 as the number of columns, and click Insert (Inserting Sections help, Columns help). Look at the page on screen before you go on.
- Add the photo. Click at the start of the item it belongs to and choose Insert > Image, select the file and click Open. By default the picture is centered above the paragraph you clicked in (Inserting a Graphic help).
- Make the text flow around the photo. Select it, choose Format > Frame and Object > Properties, open the Wrap tab and pick a wrapping style (Wrapping Text help).
- Check that everything fits on one page. If it runs over, shorten an item or lower the text size with Format > Character, as in step 3.
- Save it with File > Save As in LibreOffice’s own file type first. The help advises saving in a LibreOffice type before any outside type (Save As help). Then choose File > Export As > Export as PDF for the copy you print or email. The help says a PDF can be viewed and printed on any platform with the original formatting intact, provided that supporting software is installed (Export as PDF help).
Next month, open the saved file, replace the text and export a new PDF. That gives you a repeatable template without any template menus.
Limits to know before you switch
- LibreOffice’s import library supports documents made by Publisher 2000 and later, and its support for Publisher 95 to 98 files is limited (library wiki page). No official source we found names Publisher 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021 or Microsoft 365 files, so test one of each kind you have.
- The 7.5 Getting Started Guide documents Draw saving in its own ODF Drawing format and exporting to PDF, HTML and image formats, and lists no Word format (Getting Started Guide). For a PDF or a picture, use Draw. For a Word file, our browser tool saves a .pub file as Word with editable text, though the layout becomes a Word flow.
- For a whole folder of old files, see how to convert a folder of .pub files.
Common questions
- What can I use instead of Publisher when it is discontinued?
- LibreOffice describes itself as free and open source, and The Document Foundation says its Draw program can open Publisher files. Scribus also calls itself free. Canva has a Free plan at US$0 for one person but does not list .pub among the files it imports. Word and PowerPoint are not free on their own.
- Can I open a .PUB file without Publisher?
- Yes: the free viewer on this site opens it in your browser. The Document Foundation also says LibreOffice Draw is the quickest way to open, view, edit and manage Publisher documents. In our test with one file (LibreOffice 26.2.6.3, on Linux) it opened and saved as a PDF, but the Russian text in that file came out garbled. Test your own files.
- How can I convert a Publisher file to Word for free?
- Our free browser tool saves a .pub file as Word with editable text. LibreOffice’s documented Draw formats do not include Word, and saving our one test file as Word failed. Microsoft’s own route is a PDF first, then Word, and it needs Publisher installed.
- Is Scribus as good as Publisher?
- We do not know: no source we read compares them, and we have not tested Scribus. The Document Foundation says Scribus imports Publisher files, but Scribus’s own wiki page on it dates from 2014.
- Is Canva a good replacement for Publisher?
- Canva’s upload-formats help does not list .pub, so a PDF is the simplest documented route, and Canva’s own help pages differ on whether an imported PDF’s text is editable. Its Free plan is US$0 for one person. We have not tested it.
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